Manchester United star Henrikh Mkhitaryan has revealed that he used to play quite a lot of basketball at school back home in Armenia, as well trying his hand at sprinting and even table tennis in addition to his fledgling football career.
Speaking to ManUtd.com, Mkhitaryan explained that he really like school and was always 'focused on studying', that he 'enjoyed' every subject and 'loved all of the teachers'.
He obviously played a lot of football, joining the youth team at Yerevan club FC Pyunik at the age of six when his family returned to Armenia from a brief spell in France where his father, also a professional footballer, had been playing with the now defunct ASOA Valence.
But the basketball court also formed a big part of Mkhitaryan's early sporting life.
"We actually played basketball quite a lot, and did a lot of sprinting too," he said.
"Most of the time, it was basketball; it was just something that we did during PE class at school. Sometimes we played table tennis, but most people enjoyed basketball because you could play with many players – it was fun. Football was always the main sport for me, though."
Armenia have never played at the FIBA World Cup or Olympics, but the country did win FIBA's biennial European Championship for Small Countries in 2016 when they beat back-to-back reigning champions Andorra – the most successful nation in the competition's history.
Mkhitaryan is not alone in his love of basketball. It is generally a popular 'second sport' among many professional footballers, with United teammate Paul Pogba in particular a dab hand (pun absolutely intended) if this week's Instagram activity is anything to go by.
Former United midfielder Owen Hargreaves was a top basketball player when he was growing up in Canada, only seriously switching to football at the age of 15, while current Premier League stars Thibaut Courtois, Romelu Lukaku, Mesut Ozil, Salomon Rondon and others all also have a passion for the sport.